She felt tingly and ached in the most interesting places. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, to pull him hard against her. She wanted to run her fingers up and down his chest, to dip lower and find out if he was feeling what she was feeling.
Instead she kept still, not moving her mouth, not trying to deepen the contact. Her intent had been to give him the kiss he would never forget. Only she couldn’t. She was too afraid of how she would react.
She straightened, pulling away, aware he would probably tease her again. This time she didn’t know how she was going to defend herself, because kissing him wasn’t an option. Not when a simple, platonic peck had left her trembling. What would happen if he made any effort at all?
“Happy?” she asked, turning away and walking back to her desk.
“Very.”
She drew in a breath and told herself to stay strong. “It’s all about you and your ego, isn’t it?” she asked, facing him.
He looked bemused and a little stunned. “It was back then. Now it’s different.”
They stared at each other. She didn’t ask why, because she was as afraid of the answer as she was of kissing him again. If he’d felt it, too, if he’d been on the verge of losing control, then they were in big trouble. Better not to risk it by going there at all.
Last time…
No, she told herself firmly. There had been too much remembering. She wasn’t going to do that anymore.
“We need to go over the blasting schedule,” she said, randomly pulling a piece of paper off her desk and hoping it was relevant. “It requires coordination with several agencies, including the Fool’s Gold Fire Department. I’m happy to coordinate with them, if you want.”
“Sure. That would be great.”
“It’s my first time,” she said, then held in a groan. “I mean, I’ve never been on-site with blasting before.”
“It’ll rock your world.”
Despite feeling uncomfortable and awkward and more than a little scared, she laughed. “I’m not sure I need my world rocked.”
“Try it. You might like it.”
His gaze was steady, his expression open. She wanted to walk over and kiss him again. She wanted to know how much more she could feel in his arms, figure out what else he could do to her body.
Except that would be beyond stupid. Job first, fantasies second, she told herself as she dropped into her chair and turned her attention to her computer. But instead of the report on the screen, what she saw was the fireworks she’d experienced and the black cloud of impending doom should she ever give in.
The problem wasn’t Tucker. The problem was her. She hadn’t been able to resist him ten years ago and back then he hadn’t even been trying. What was she supposed to do if he decided he wanted to do more than play?
The man was leaving in a year, she reminded herself. More important, he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in ever settling down. For her, home was everything. He’d already broken her heart once. Did she really need a second lesson from the likes of Tucker Janack? Logically, he was a bad choice. She wondered how long she would have to keep telling herself that before she would start to believe.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER A LONG WEEK at the construction site, Nevada was more than ready to spend a quiet evening not thinking about Tucker. Since “the kiss,” he’d been invading her thoughts way more than was reasonable. So, when her mother had invited her over for a family dinner, it had seemed to be the perfect escape.
She arrived around six, as requested, and met Dakota, Finn and Hannah coming from the opposite direction.
“Who’s my best girl?” Nevada asked, taking the baby from her sister and hugging her tight.
“Na-na-na,” Hannah squealed in delight as she waved her pudgy arms.
“Nevada. That’s right. Who’s a smart girl?” She swung Hannah in her arms, then grinned at her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law. “Hi, you two. How are things?”
“Great.” Finn put his arm around Dakota. “She’s growing, as you can see. Crawling everywhere. Starting to try to walk.”
He sounded happy and proud, Nevada thought, pleased her sister had found such a great guy.
Just a few months before, Finn had come to town to rescue his twin brothers from a reality show—True Love or Fool’s Gold. The “boys” had actually been twenty-one and more than capable of making their own decisions, but Finn hadn’t seen it that way.
Dakota had assumed she wouldn’t find a forever kind of love and had already contacted an adoption agency. While falling for Finn, she’d received word she’d been approved to adopt Hannah, then six months old. The situation had only gotten more complicated when Dakota became pregnant. It had been a busy few months.
Now Finn had relocated to Fool’s Gold, bought a local air cargo and tour company and they were planning a wedding.
“You two set the date yet?” Nevada asked as the three of them walked toward the front door.
Dakota looked at Finn, then back at Nevada. “No. We’re still talking.”